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Special collections and archives workers have unique experiences in providing service to their patron base while also working to overcome disruption and physical displacement. The disruption may take the form of a major renovation, a closure due to natural disaster, being forced out of a library space, budget cuts, or other operational issues. This article captures the experiences of twenty-eight staff members providing access services to their subset of users, in the form of interviews, in order to reflect upon how our profession connects with, provides services to, and places value on the relationships we cultivate with the public. We sought to gain insight from those who have experienced disruptions to their services in the past in order to apply this knowledge to the pandemic situation of 2020 and 2021, as well as those experiencing major disruptions in the future. The interview responses are a general representation of what staff may endure when embarking on a project that is a major disruption to service delivery. The experiences of the participants revealed a cyclical interconnectedness between the themes, indicating the complex nature of work involving human beings. The responses provide tangible recommendations to those planning for, beginning, or experiencing a disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the summer of 2014, the Research and Instructional Services Unit of Meyer Library reviewed services offered on-campus, and concluded a consultation service for distance students was missing. A face-to-face research consultation service has been utilized for more than 10 years. Due to the success of this existing service, the unit wished to offer it to students unable to come to campus. The goals of virtual consultations are to give distance students the same options for research assistance as on-campus students. Namely, help students find materials, provide a degree of information literacy instruction, and establish a positive view of the library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For-credit, online information literacy instruction is gaining momentum in academic libraries. It provides library outreach to a broader spectrum of students, and reinforces information literacy skills and concepts more than once. In this article, librarians from a small, private, rural, four-year university will provide an overview of their library's for-credit online research skills course for nontraditional students in the university's degree completion program. The article will identify student learning barriers, share factors that contribute to and prevent instructor burnout, and describe how data-informed decision making is used to make improvements to the curricular and course design. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this research study is to identify whether academic librarians teach upper-division students about print reference resources, and how they teach students to use them. Questionnaires were sent to library instruction and reference services e-mail discussion lists. After analyzing results, researchers found that responses focused on the themes of pro-print, pro-electronic, relevance to instruction, collection development, and marketing. Using print reference in library instruction is related to the type of research assignment and electronic format availability. Librarians may want to consider engaging students in hands-on use of print and electronic reference material, so students are able to navigate the breadth of information sources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Slam the Boards (STB) is a grassroots activity in which librarians visit social Q&A sites on the tenth of each month and answer as many questions as possible. Through this activity, librarians hope to represent librarianship at a new venue; encounter users beyond the library and provide well-sourced, dependable answers to people's questions; and ultimately increase the public's awareness of libraries. Semistructured interviews were conducted with participating librarians, examining their motivation, experience, and reflection. Findings of the study can help develop an in-depth understanding of STB and yield insights on how to efficiently and effectively promote library resources and services beyond the library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how reference librarians use cloud computing technologies, particularly the general-purposed, consumer-oriented software as service (SaaS) tools, to support and facilitate their work. A survey was conducted and the findings suggest that librarians use these tools for a variety of purposes, ranging from facilitating internal communication and collaborative work, to supporting information literacy instruction. Advantages and disadvantages of the tools were also identified. This study will help interested librarians gain a concrete understanding of how to benefit from the increasingly popular cloud computing technologies and thus make more informed decisions when migrating to the cloud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will address the problems of developing and implementing a federated searching system and the involvement by reference staff expected to use, teach, and promote it. Implementation of federated search usually begins with developing basic technical functionality and then progresses to increased participation by public service librarians and system users in order to refine searching interfaces and content retrieval mechanisms and display. From the reference perspective, some impediments occurred in utilizing the federated search system since reference staff did not participate in the development of the product; since there was resistance to the concept of the product by instructional staff; and since performance inconsistencies and the use of a complex interface hampered functionality. This article will address the evolution of organizational stakeholder participation in the development of the federated search system at the Loyola Notre Dame Library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chat reference is fast becoming a standard offering in the suite of reference services academic libraries provide. But much still needs to be learned about the motivations users have for choosing chat services, and what sorts of research they are doing online at the moment that they choose to go to chat reference for help. This study analyzes the results of a user survey that asks what users are doing before they choose chat, why they decided to choose chat, and their overall satisfaction with the service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever increasing user demand for value-added digital resources and enabling navigation assistance requires innovative thinking that enhances traditional physical reference service strategies with new Web-based solutions. The Cal Poly agribusiness digital research portal project demonstrates that heightened collaboration between a subject specialist librarian and academic teaching faculty can enrich students' educational experiences. In this pilot project, information literacy concepts are paired with core disciplinary content to improve relational context during users' interaction with digital research tools and resource materials. This teaching librarian model leverages a Web-based research portal design and development process that embeds information literacy in academic curricula, even as it ensures organizational learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet Reference Services Quarterly is introducing a new column that will focus on current developments and practice concerns in chat reference. This first entry gives some background on the column's origins, and details the directions it will take. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]